Addresses on the presentation of the sword of Gen. Andrew Jackson to the Congress of the United States, delivered in the Senate and House of Representatives, February 26, 1855

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
AT LOS ANGELES

ADDRESSES

PRESENTATION OF THE SWORD

GEN. ANDREW JACKSON

CONGRESS OF TIIK UNITED STATES.

ADDRESSES

PRESENTATION OF THE SWORD

GEN. ANDREW JACKSON

CONGRESS OF THE:UKITE]) STATES,

DELIVERED

IN THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 26, 1855.

WASHINGTON:

PRINTED BY A. O. P. NICHOLSON.
1855.

IN THE HOUSE OF EEPEESENTATIVES.
MONDAY, February 26, 1855.

Ordered, That one hundred thousand copies of the proceedings and speeches
in the Senate and House of Kepresentatives, upon the presentation of the sword
of General Jackson, be printed, under the direction of the Clerk of the House.

PRESENTATION

OF THE

SVOKD OE GENERAL JACKSON.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.
MONDAY, February 26, 1855.

Mr. SHIELDS, of Illinois, rose and said:

Mr. PRESIDENT : The hour has arrived which has been

designated for a very interesting ceremony. It is one

\^ in which ladies take as deep an interest as gentlemen,

^t but the crowded state of the galleries excludes many

of them from the Chamber. A motion to suspend the

% rule which limits admissions to the floor, so that those

» who are now excluded may be permitted to be present,

»} I think will meet with general acceptance ; and, there-

x fore, I submit that motion.

The motion was agreed to ; and many ladies were admitted
to seats without the bar.

Mr. CASS, of Michigan, then addressed the Senate as
follows :

rMr. PRESIDENT: I must ask the indulgence of the
^ Senate for requesting that its usual business may be
suspended, in order to give me an opportunity to dis-
charge a trust which has been committed to me — a

.358679

trust I had not the heart to decline, but which I knew I
had not the power to fulfil, as such a mission should be
fulfilled. I hold in my hand the sword of General
JACKSON, which he wore in all his expeditions while in
the military service of the country, and which was his
faithful companion in his last and crowning victory,
when New Orleans was saved from the grasp of a
rapacious and powerful enemy, and our nation from the
disgrace and disaster which defeat would have brought
in its train. When the hand of death was upon him,
General Jackson presented this sword to his friend, the
late General Armstrong, as a testimonial of his high
appreciation of the services, worth, and courage of that
most estimable citizen and distinguished soldier, whose
desperate valor on one occasion stayed the tide of In-
dian success and saved the army from destruction. The
family of the lamented depositary, now that death has
released him from the guardianship of this treasure of
patriotism, are desirous it should be surrendered to the »
custody of the national legislature, believing that to be
the proper disposition of a memorial which, in all time
to come, will be a cherished one for the American peo-
ple. To carry that purpose into effect I now offer it
in their name to Congress.

Mr. President, this is no doubtful relic, whose iden- •
tity depends upon uncertain tradition, and which owes
its interest to an impulsive imagination. - Its authen-
ticity is established beyond controversy by the papers

which accompany it ; and it derives its value as well
from our knowledge of its history, as from its associa-
tion with the great captain, whose days of toil and
nights of trouble it shared and witnessed, and who
never drew it from its scabbard but to defend the honor
and the interests of his country.

This is neither the time nor the place to portray those
great traits of character which gave to General Jack-
son the ascendency that no man ever denied, who
approached him, and that wonderful influence with his
countrymen which marked almost his whole course,
from his entrance upon a public career till the grave
closed upon his life and his labors, and left him to that
equality which the mighty and the lowly must find at
last. Still, from my personal and official relations with
him — and I trust I may add from his friendship towards
me, of which I had many proofs — I cannot withhold the
acknowledgment of the impression which his high qual-
ities made upon me, and which becomes more lasting
and profound, as time is doing its work of separation
from the days of my intercourse with him.

I have been no careless observer of the men of my
time, who, controlled by events, or controlling them,
have stood prominent among them, and will occupy
distinguished positions in the annals of the age ; and
circumstances have extended my opportunities of exam-
ination to the Old World, as well as to the New. But
I say, and with a deep conviction of its truth, that I

have never Been brought into contact with a man who
possessed more native sagacity, more profundity of in-
tellect, higher powers of observation or greater probity
of purpose, more ardor of patriotism, nor more firm-
ness of resolution, after he had surveyed his position
and occupied it, than the lamented subject of this fee-
ble tribute, not to him, but to truth. And I will add,
that, during the process of determination upon import-
ant subjects, he was sometimes slow, and generally
cautious and inquiring, and, he has more than once told
me, anxious and uneasy, not seldom passing the night
without sleep; but he was calm in his mind, and inflexi-
ble in his will, when reflection had given place to de-
cision. The prevailing opinion that he was rash and
hasty in his conclusions is founded upon an erroneous
impression of his habits of thought and action ; upon a
want of discrimination between his conduct before and
after his judgment had pronounced upon his course.

This is not the first offering of a similar nature, which
has been laid upon the altar of our country with the
sanction of the legislative department of the govern-
ment. Some years since, another precious relic was
deposited here — the sword of him, who, in life, was first
in the affections of his countrymen, and in death is now
the first in their memory. I need not name his name.
It is written in characters of living light on every heart,
and springs instinctively to every tongue. His fame is
committed to time, his example to mankind, and him-

self, we may humbly hope, to the reward'of the right-
eous. When centuries shall have passed over us,
bringing with them the mutations that belong to the
lapse of ages, and our country shall yet be fulfilling,
or shall have fulfilled, her magnificent destiny — for
good, I devoutly hope, and not for evil — pilgrims from
our ocean coasts and our inland seas, and from the vast
regions which now separate, but before long by our
wonderful progress must unite them, will come up to
the high places of our land, consecrated by days and
deeds of world- wide renown ; and, turning aside to the
humble tomb, dearer than this proud Capitol, they will
meditate upon the eventful history of their country,
and will recall the example while they bless the name
of WASHINGTON.

And, on the same occasion, was presented the cane
of FRANKLIN, which was deposited in our national
archives with the sword of his friend and co-laborer in
the great cause of human rights. Truly and beauti-
fully has it been said, that peace hath its victories as
well as war. And n ver was nobler conquest won than
that achieved by the American apprentice, printer,
author, statesman, ambassador, philosopher, and, better
than all, model of common sense, over one of the most
powerful elements in the economy of nature, subduing
its might to his own, and thus enabling man to answer
the sublime interrogatory addressed to Job, "Canst
thou send lightnings that they may go and say unto

8

thee, Here we are?" Yes; they now come at our com-
mand, and say, Here we are, ready to do your work.
And it was our illustrious countryman who first opened
the way for this subjugation of the fire of heaven to
the human will. The staff that guided the steps of
FRANKLIN, and the sword that guarded the person of
WASHINGTON, may well occupy the same repository,
under the care of the nation they served and loved and
honored.

And now another legacy of departed greatness,
another weapon from the armory of patriotism, comes
to claim its place in the sanctuary assigned to its pre-
decessor, and to share with it the veneration of the
country, in whose defence it was wielded.

The memorial of the first and greatest of our Chief
Magistrates, and this memorial of his successor in the
administration of the government, and second only to
him in the gratitude and affections of the American
people, will lie side by side, united tokens of patriotic
self-devotion and of successful military prowess, though
they who bore them and gave them value by their ser-
vices are now tenants of distant and lowly graves, sepa-
rated by mountains, and rivers, and valleys. And in ages
shut out from our vision by the far away future, when re-
mote generations, heirs of our heritage of freedom, but
succeeding to it without the labor and the privations
of acquisition, shall gaze (as they will gaze) upon these
testimonials of victories, time-worn but time-honored,

9

they will be carried back by association to those heroes
of early story, and will find their love of country
strengthened, and their pride in her institutions and
their confidence in her fate and fortunes increased, by
this powerful faculty of the mind — a faculty which en-
ables us to triumph over the distant and the future, as
well as over the stern realities of the present, gathering
around us the mighty dead and the mighty deeds that ex-
cite the admiration of mankind, and will ever command
their respect and gratitude. And thus will communion
be held with the great leaders of our country, in war
and in peace, who wore these swords in their service,
and hallowed them by their patriotism, their valor, and
success.

I will now read to the Senate two letters connected
with the circumstance of this presentation — one from
Mr. Nicholson, and the other from Mr. Vaulx, the son-
in-law of the late General Armstrong :

Letter from Joseph Vaulx.

NASHVILLE, February 7, 1855.

DEAR SIR: Doctor W. S. McNairy left here a few days ago
for Washington, having in charge the sword that General
Jackson before his death gave to General Armstrong. The
Doctor was requested by William M. Armstrong (in whose
keeping it had been left by his father) to hand it over to
you on his arrival in Washington. You, I believe, were
present at the time General Armstrong had the honor of

10

having it presented to him by his distinguished friend. It
is the sword worn by General Jackson in his various cam-
paigns and during the whole time he remained in the mili-
tary service of his country. It is, therefore, justly regarded
as a relic of great value. It was General Armstrong's wish
that it should be placed at the disposal of Congress, or the
government, with a view to its being deposited in a suitable
place, where, doubtless, millions of General Jackson's ad-
miring countrymen will in time to come gladly look on it
as the war-sword of one whose brilliant services in the cause
of his country place his name in bold relief on the historic
page of our beloved country.

No person, I believe, would have been preferred to your-
self by General Armstrong as the medium for presenting the
sword to Congress, or the government ; which, at the request
of his son, you will please do in such terms as you may deem
proper.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOSEPH VAULX.

Hon. A. 0. P. NICHOLSON.

Letter from A. 0. P. Nicholson.

WASHINGTON, February 13, 1855.

DEAR SIR: A short time before the death of General Jack-
son, I received a note from him inviting me to visit him for
a special purpose. I did so, and found that, amongst other
things, he desired to put into my hands the sword which he
had used at the battle of New Orleans, for the purpose of
delivering it to the late General Kobert Armstrong, as a

11

testimonial of warm personal friendship, and as an evidence
of his high appreciation of his military services and his
patriotic devotion to the honor of his country. I delivered
the sword as requested, and it was kept by General Arm-
strong during his life. Since his death, his family have con-
cluded that the most proper disposition they could make of
it would he to present it to Congress, to he kept as a per-
petual memento of the brilliant achievement with which it
is connected. For this purpose the sword has been forwarded
to me with the request that I would present it to Congress
in the name of General Armstrong's family. It has occurred
to me that I could not more appropriately discharge this
trust than to place the sword in your hands, and to ask that
you will present it in such way as you may deem most pro-
per. The known relations, in public and private, between
General Jackson and yourself, as well as your constant friend-
ship for General Armstrong, seem to me to render it emi-
nently fit that the presentation should be made by you. I
therefore place the sword at your disposal, and respectfully
request that you would undertake to carry out the wishes of
the donors.

I am, very respectfully, your friend,

A. 0. P. NICHOLSON.
Gen. LEWIS CASS.

Mr. BELL, of Tennessee:

Mr. PRESIDENT : I am fully aware that, in undertaking
to accompany the offer of the resolution which I pro-
pose to send to the Chair with any remarks upon the

12

public services and character of the illustrious man
whose name and whose memory have been so elo-
quently and appropriately brought to our notice by
the distinguished Senator from Michigan, I assume an
office of great delicacy, and one wftich I, especially,
may well have some distrust of my ability to perform
in a proper and satisfactory manner ; yet, as the senior
representative of the State of Tennessee in the Senate,
I do not feel at liberty to decline it.

In what I propose to say, I must tread with caution
and reserve, or not at all, upon grounds on which the
fires of political controversy raged with such fierceness
at a period so recent that the embers yet smoulder, and
may not prudently be disturbed.

In the great drama of aifairs now being enacted on
this continent, the opening act of which was the Revo,
lution — the closing scenes, I trust, will be in the far,
far future — Andrew Jackson was, in his day, a great
and successful actor. Whatever difference of opinion
may have existed among his contemporaries of the
merit of some parts of his performance, yet, as a whole,
it received the plaudits of his countrymen, and a large
proportion of them pronounced it masterly throughout.

General Jackson possessed rare endowments, and
was, indeed, one of the most, if not the most remark-
able man of the age in which he lived. With but slight
and indifferent mental or professional training and dis-
cipline in early life, so generally regarded as important,

13

if not essential, to eminent success in either of the two
great departments of human effort — the civil and the
military — yet, at the very outset of his military career,
he exhibited talents for command of a high order, and
in less than three years, by his brilliant achievements,
established his reputation as the first military chief of
the country. But this is not all. Retiring from the
army when there appeared to be no further demand
for active service, he was in a few years thereafter ele-
vated to the highest civil station under the national
government ; and for eight successive years he wielded
the power and influence of his position, as Executive
Chief, with such vigor and address, that he was sus-
tained in, and succeeded in carrying out, all the great
measures of his administration — some of them present-
ing questions of the gravest nature, and giving rise to
the most intense excitement — and this, too, in the face
of an opposition combining an amount of ability, elo-
quence, skill, and experience in affairs, in both houses
of Congress, but more especially in the Senate, greater
than was ever witnessed before or since. The jars and
contentions between those great moral elements were,
sometimes, such as shook the whole country.

A man who, having addicted his early manhood
mainly to the pursuits of private life, without any ap-
preciable culture or experience in public affairs, could
thus, when there arose a public exigency of sufficient
urgency to induce him to enter the public service, per

14

saltum, as it were, raise himself to the first rank as a
military leader, and then, for so long a period, as Chief
Magistrate of a great and free country, thus direct and
control its civil administration, must be allowed to have
possessed great capacity.

His was no negative or unmarked career — no meteor-
like appearance upon the great theatre of affairs, to
blaze and dazzle for a moment, and then pass away
forever ; but, both as a military commander and a civil
chief, he left his impress upon his country and its in-
stitutions deep, striking, and indelible.

It would be idle to assume, as some have done,
that General Jackson was indebted alone, or chiefly, to
fortune and adventitious circumstances for his extraor-
dinary success. He was such a man, Mr. President, as
when he had once attained position, had the faculty of
creating the circumstances, if he needed them, neces-
sary to further and continued successes. Posterity will
inquire, with eager curiosity, the secret of his amazing
success — the distinctive traits of mind and of personal
character by which he achieved it ; some of which they
will probably seek in vain in the pages of contemporary
history.

General Jackson had what may be called an intuitive
perception of the passions and interests by which the
mass of mankind are controlled. He was a shrewd
observer of individual character, and he was seldom
mistaken in his estimate of the men with whom he

16

associated as friends or came in contact with as oppo-
nents. He was devoted to his friends ; and the more
others opposed or denounced them, the more deter-
mined he became to sustain them, and never cast them
off until they arrayed themselves in open opposition to
his plans and wishes. Nor was he deficient in courtesy
to opponents — not personal enemies — and could even
court them when he desired or needed their support,
but never by fawning or unmanly appeals.

His self-reliance was wonderful. He never despaired
of his fortune. As the obstacles to the success of any
favorite scheme of policy multiplied, and the storm of
opposition was wildest, it was then that one of his most
striking traits was exhibited. He became the soul, the
animating principle, of his followers; revived their faint-
ing courage, re-inspired their confidence in his infalli-
bility, and cheered them on to renewed and more
vigorous efforts.

When the emergency required it, no man was more
prompt in coming to a decision. When the question
presented difficulties, and admitted of deliberation, he
counselled with his friends. When his own conviction
was clear, he seldom deferred to the views of others ;
and when he once decided upon his course, he was
inflexible and immovable. He was, emphatically and
truly, a man of stern resolve and iron will ; and, when
opposition to the accomplishment of his purposes ap-
peared formidable and discouraging, he was apt to

16

become impatient of the restraints and trammels of
official and customary routine. He had the courage,
both moral and physical, to dare and to do whatever
he thought proper and necessary to the successful issue
of whatever he had resolved upon. He was withal a
patriot, devoted to the honor, dignity, and glory of his
country ; and he had the faculty of persuading himself
that whatever measure or course of policy, either in
peace or in war, he resolved upon, and strongly desired
to accomplish, was proper and necessary to the public
welfare.

No man since the days of Washington was more de-
voted to the union of these States, or would have more
cheerfully laid down his life to defend and uphold it,
than Andrew Jackson.

Many have supposed that General Jackson was often
controlled by passion and resentment, and that he some-
times embraced measures and engaged in enterprises
without any calculation of the chances of success or
defeat, and reckless of both. There never was a greater
mistake. This was the error into which the great op-
ponents of his measures and policy in the Senate fell ;
and the event showed that he had estimated the ele-
ments of his power and the true sources of his strength
with greater sagacity than themselves.

When General Jackson made his first essay in the art
of war, and led the Tennessee volunteers against a wily
foe, formidable from their numbers and mode of war-

17

fare, many careless observers of his early career had
their misgivings that a rash valor and his eager desire
to distinguish himself in arms might result in disaster
and the unnecessary sacrifice of his men ; but they were
soon undeceived. Those who knew him best, and knew
him well, never had any distrust of his discretion as a
military commander.

But his qualities as a general, and his powers of com-
bination in conducting the operations of an army, were
best illustrated and put to the severest test in the cam-
paign of 1814-' 15 in the South. It was then that ample
scope was given him for the exercise of his genius and
capacity for military command.

In 1814 Great Britain, by the overthrow of the
French Emperor, found herself in a condition to em-
ploy the whole of her great naval and military resources
in an effort to humble or to crush the United States.
The first blow fell upon the shores of the Chesapeake.
The seat of the national government fell into the hands
of the enemy, and the blackened walls of the Capitol
gave warning of the ruthless spirit with which the war
was thenceforth to be conducted. This wound to the
national pride was inflicted at a time when the public
finances and the public credit were at the lowest ebb.
The recruiting service went on sluggishly, and gave
no promise of an adequate increase of the regular army ;
and the whole of our extended and almost defenceless

seacoast was exposed to the attacks of the enemy.
2

18

Rumors soon after reached the country that a still more
formidable armament was to make a descent upon our
shores ; but where the storm would burst, there was no
clue to determine. Afterwards a general gloom, not
without some admixture of despondency, then hung
over the country.

At a later date it became manifest that the Gulf coast
was to be the scene of operations. Every day the
gathering clouds of war in that quarter became darker
and more portentous. Still, it was uncertain upon what
particular point the bolt would fall ; but wherever it
might fall on that coast, it was certain that it would be
in the military department, the protection and defence
of which was assigned to General Jackson. All eyes
and hopes were now turned upon him. He had already
exhibited such uncommon energy, skill, and intrepidity,
in his conduct of the war against the Creek Indians, as
to inspire some confidence, when there seemed to be
scarcely ground for hope. It was known that he had
no army in the field, save two or three regiments of
regulars, and a single regiment of mounted Tennessee
volunteers, and that there were no adequate supplies,
either of provisions or munitions of war, at any point
in his command for conducting military operations upon
a large scale ; but never was confidence so well repaid.
Hisx energy and discretion, and the confidence he in-
spired, supplied every deficiency.

When it became evident that New Orleans was to be

19

the point of attack, and that the hostile armament had
made its appearance off the Gulf coast, he called upon
the authorities of Kentucky and Tennessee to send for-
ward their contingents of militia and volunteers with
all despatch, as the enemy was approaching. Upon the
States threatened with invasion he urged the employ-
ment of all their energies and resources to be in readi-
ness to meet the foe. He called, in strains of inspiring
eloquence, upon the free colored inhabitants of Louisi-
ana to protect their native soil from invasion and pol-
lution by a foreign foe. He offered pardon and invoked
the very pirates who infested the neighboring coast to
the rescue.

By these energetic steps, General Jackson found as-
sembled around him a force of five thousand men, of
all arms — all, save two regiments of the regular army,
being volunteers and militia-men — and with this hastily-
assembled army, on the 8th of January, he met, and, in
a sanguinary battle, overcame more than double their
number of veteran troops, led by experienced generals,
flushed with recent victory on the battle-fields of Eu-
rope, and closed the war in a blaze of glory.

Mr. President, the sword worn by the victor on that
day, the man of stern resolve and iron will, when gazed
upon in unborn ages, will send a thrill through the
heart of every true American.

I ask the unanimous consent of the Senate to intro-
duce "a joint resolution accepting the sword of General

20

Andrew Jackson, and returning the thanks of Congress
to the family of the late General Robert Armstrong."

Unanimous consent was given, and the joint resolution
was read twice, and considered as in Committee of the
"Whole. It is as follows:

Resolved ly the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled, That
the thanks of this Congress be presented to the family of the
late General Robert Armstrong for the present of the sword
worn by General Andrew Jackson while in the military
service of his country ; and that this precious relic be hereby
accepted in the name of the nation, and be deposited, for
safe-keeping, in the Department of State ; and that a copy
of this resolution be transmitted to the family of the late
General Robert Armstrong.

The joint resolution was reported to the Senate without
amendment,, and ordered to be engrossed for a third reading.
It was read the third time, and passed.

Mr. GWIN submitted the following; which was considered
by unanimous consent, and agreed to :

Ordered, That the addresses of Mr. CASS and Mr. BELL be
entered on the journal ; that the resolution and the sword
be taken to the House of Representatives by the Secretary,
with a request that the House will concur in the said resolu-
tion.

21

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
MONDAY, February 26, 1855.

A message was received from the Senate, by ASBURY
DICKINS, esq. , their Secretary, notifying the House that that
body had passed a resolution accepting the sword of General
ANDREW JACKSON, and returning the thanks of Congress to
the family of General Eobert Armstrong therefor,

Mr. SMITH, of Tennessee :

I ask that the House do now proceed to the consider-
ation of the resolution just brought to us from the
Senate.

Mr. STANTON, of Kentucky:

As the ceremony of presentation is to be an inte-
resting one, and there are a great many ladies who
desire to be present, and are unable to get in the gal-
leries, I move that the rules be suspended, and that the
ladies be admitted upon the floor on the occasion.

The motion was agreed to ; the doors were thrown open,
and a large number of ladies were admitted.
The joint resolution was read as follows:

A RESOLUTION to accept the sword of General Andrew Jackson, and return-
ing the thanks of Congress to the family of the late General Robert Arm-
strong.

Eesolved, That the thanks of this Congress be presented
to the family of the late General Eobert Armstrong for the
present of the sword worn by General Andrew Jackson
while in the service of his country, and that this precious

22

relic be hereby accepted in the name of the nation, and be
deposited for safe-keeping in the Department of State, and
that a copy of this resolution be presented to the family of
the late General Eobert Armstrong.

Mr. SMITH, of Tennessee, rose and addressed the House as
follows :

Mr. SPEAKER: In asking the consideration of the
resolution just read, justice to the occasion requires
a few remarks from me, and I only regret that this
responsibility had not devolved upon some one more
capable than myself of performing so important a duty.

In all ages and in all countries it has been customary
to commemorate the deeds of illustrious men. Paint-
ing, poetry, and sculpture have been brought into
requisition to perpetuate the memory of their achieve-
ments, and to keep alive in the hearts of the young, ven-
eration for their ancestors and pride of country.

'Every Capitol in Christendom is adorned with monu-
ments erected to the brave an<^ wise who have, by
counsel or deeds, given direction to the«policy or illus-
trated the pages of their country's history. Their mu-
seums are filled with relics, which, from their intimate
personal association with the gallant dead, ever keep
vividly before the mind their public acts and private
virtues. These teach lessons as impressive as towering
monuments or glowing canvas.

Brief as our existence has been, the history of no
nation on earth has been so fruitful of stirring incidents —

23

incidents which have had an influence not only upon
our own land, but upon the civilized world. The
painter's art has adorned the walls of our Capitol with
representations of some of the most important of these
events. Here we have the first grand scene of our
Revolution, the Declaration of Independence, upon which
no American can look without experiencing feelings of
the most ennobling character. The very features are
preserved of the statesmen who proclaimed doctrines
which startled the world from its long lethargic sleep,
revived again the spirit of Sydney and of Hampden, and
gave the first just conception of the true dignity and
capacity of man. Their voices are all hushed in death;
but the echo of the appeal of 1776 still lives, and is
reverberating throughout the earth, making strong the
arms and hearts of those who for their rights and liber-
ties would proudly welcome death and the grave.

With what glowing pride do we look upon the battle-
scenes here portrayed! — battles fought, not to further
the schemes of ambition, but in defence of freedom and
universal humanity. No enslaved people have bewailed
the triumphs of our warriors, but the whole earth has
arisen and pronounced them blessed.

The battles and victories which the artist has here
celebrated were still fresh and green in the memory of
the people, when the nation was again called to arms
to vindicate its honor and the rights of man. Many of
the leading spirits of the Revolution still lived. Upon

24

some the palsying hand of time had been heavily laid ;
but in their hearts the love of country and the fires of
patriotism still brightly burned. They urged the young
to the conflict. The voice of Jefferson rang through the
land, cheering the brave, nerving the arms of the timid,
and giving hope and courage to the hearts of all. The
warriors of the Revolution who still retained their vigor
buckled on their armor for the conflict. Conspicuous
among these were Yan Rensselaer of New York, Smith
of Maryland, and Jackson of Tennessee. Our country-
men, under the lead of their gallant commanders, tri-
umphed upon the land and upon the sea, and estab-
lished forever our rank among the nations of the earth.
The actors in these scenes are fast passing away. But
few of the gallant leaders in this glorious war still sur-
vive ; and they are verging upon their three score and
ten, and must soon be gathered to their fathers. Duty,
gratitude, and patriotism should prompt us to collect
trophies of their victories, and garner up memorials
which will speak to future generations of their great-
ness and patriotism, and which will keep the memory
of their deeds of noble daring alive forever in the heart
of the nation.

Not long before the death of that distinguished chief-
tain, Andrew Jackson, he placed the sword he had
worn in all of his battles in the war of 1812 in the
hands of a friend to be delivered to his compatriot in
arms, the late General Robert Armstrong, who had in

25

an eminent degree commanded his respect and enjoyed
his confidence. These two lamented patriots had shared
together the hardships of the camp and the dangers of
the battle-field ; and the bestowal of this relic by the
illustrious hero was a fit testimonial of his apprecia-
tion of one whose courage he had seen tested on many
a bloody field, and whose patriotism had often elicited
the warmest gratitude and highest applause of his
countrymen.

It was at the battle of Enotochopco where the little
army commanded by Jackson was almost surrounded
by the enemy, and in the heat of the conflict General
Armstrong was severely wounded. But he did not de-
sert his post, and when unable longer to wield a sword
or stand upon his feet, he clung to a small tree which
stood near him, and cried: "My brave fellows, some
may fall, but save the cannon." Such bravery elicited
the thanks and gratitude of his commander, and made
him the worthy recipient of the favorite weapon worn
by him on that trying occasion.

The family of General Armstrong, actuated by the
patriotic impulses which ever characterized their sire,
have placed this sword at the disposal of Congress. It
seems tome eminently fit that it should become the
property of the government, and be placed among the
trophies of our victories and the mementoes of our
heroes ; for it is associated with the names of two of
the " bravest of the brave," and with battles the history

26

of which will fill the brightest pages in our country's
annals.

In moving the adoption of the resolution on your
table accepting the sword, I do not feel called upon to
pronounce a eulogy upon General Jackson. He needs
it not. " God blessed him with length of days, and he
filled them with deeds of glory," which have entered
into the history of the nation, and become the heritage
of his countrymen.

Mr. ZOLLICOFFER, of Tennessee :

Mr. SPEAKER : It being my fortune to represent the
Hermitage district — where that great man lived, and
where his remains are entombed — the House will par-
don me for briefly giving utterance to emotions which
fill me on this peculiar occasion. The martial renown
of Andrew Jackson has become national property.
But it must be allowed to Tennesseans to feel more than
an ordinary interest in that renown, and in this occasion.
The brave-hearted, the world over, I apprehend, pay
to his heroic spirit their true homage ; and I can well
imagine that even the boldest, when treading the paths
of danger, walk more erect and confident under the
broad sun-light of his chivalrous history ; yet to those
who were his neighbors when he tenanted the Hermit-
age, and who inhabit the mountains and the valleys
which sent forth the gallant men who followed and
upheld his standard in all his victories — men who saw
this very sword unsheathed on all his brilliant and

27

perilous battle-fields — I say, sir, to such a people, some-
thing more than this feeling is but a common impulse
of that human nature which we all readily comprehend.
The sons of those gallant men are the present young
men of Tennessee. As these young men catch a glimpse
of this shining blade, passing into the depository of the
nation's precious relics, how can it be otherwise than
that their hearts will throb with quickened pulsations of
patriotic State and national pride ? Rest assured, sir,
that they feel, and must ever feel, a lofty and commenda-
ble State pride in the military renown and unquestioned
personal heroism of Andrew Jackson. I hesitate not
to say, sir, that this feeling has contributed in no small
degree to the full development of that chivalric senti-
ment which has ever characterized the volunteer troops
of Tennessee when their country has demanded their
services in the field.

Allow me to say, sir, that I, for near twenty years,
have held a position of antagonism, more or less, to
those who have claimed to be the especial political
friends of General Jackson, and in that State our
contests have been sharp, animated, and continuous,
through that long period. I mention this merely by
way of suggesting that the sentiments to which I have
given utterance are expressed with the more freedom
from all undue partiality or bias. They are sentiments
such as I feel that no native Tennessean, and I trust
no citizen of any other State in our glorious confederacy,

28

can fail cordially and heartily to respond to. They
should be held in common by the whole American
people; for this very sword, sir, gleamed over that
memorable battle-field of which every citizen of the
Union is so justly proud, and which has unquestionably
given a more world- wide fame to American prowess
than any other single battle-field which has ever
emblazoned the bright annals of American warfare.
Let the sword, sir, be preserved, and transmitted care-
fully to posterity. Let it be deposited along with the
sword and camp-chest of Washington, and tin staff and
printing press of Franklin, among the most precious
relics of a grateful country, preserved and cared for as
high incentives to the honorable ambition of American
youth, as long as liberty shall have a home, or the
Union of these States an existence among the nations
of the earth.

But, sir, I will here pause. I will not dwell upon a
theme which has already been enlarged upon by others
with so much more ability than I possess. I will tres-
pass upon the valuable time of the House only for a
vmoment longer. I cannot, in justice to my own feelings,
withhold a brief allusion to General Robert Armstrong,
from whose family this present is received. He was
my neighbor and personal friend. The confidence
which General Jackson, who knew him so long and so
well, reposed in the sterling qualities of his heart and
head, is itself a sufficient eulogy, requiring no aid from

29

anything I can offer. I must, however, say that I held
him to be one of the bravest, most magnanimous, and
most truly kind-hearted men it was ever my good
fortune personally to know.

In conclusion, I need hardly add that I take it for
granted the resolution will be sanctioned, not only
unanimously, but with the most cheerful alacrity, by
every American representative.

Mr. BENTON, of Missouri:

Mr. SPEAKER : The manner in which this sword has
been used for the honor and benefit of the countiy is
known to the world ; the manner in which the privilege
was obtained of so using it is but little known, even
to the living age, and must be lost to posterity unless
preserved by contemporaneous history. At the same
time it is well worth knowing, in order to show what
difficulties talent may have to contend with, what mis-
takes governments may commit, and upon what chances
and accidents it may depend that the greatest talent
and the purest patriotism may be able to get into the
service of its country. There is a moral in such
history which it may be instructive to governments
and to people to learn. When a warrior or a statesman
is seen, in the midst of his career and the fullness of
his glory, showing himself to be in his natural place,
people overlook his previous steps and suppose he had
been called by a general voice, by wise councils, to the
fulfilment of a natural destiny. In a few instances it

30

is so ; in the greater part, not. In the greater part
there is a toilsome, uncertain, discouraging, and morti-
fying progress to be gone through before the future
resplendent man is able to get on the theatre which is
to give him the use of his talent. So it was with
Jackson. He had his difficulties to surmount, and sur-
mounted them. He conquered savage tribes and the
conquerors of the conquerors of Europe ; but he had
to conquer his own government first, and did it, and
that was for him the most difficult of the two ; for,
while his military victories were the regular result of a
genius for war and brave troops to execute his plans,
enabling him to command success, his civil victory over
his own government was the result of chances and
accidents, and the contrivances of others, in which he
could have but little hand and no control. I proceed
to give some view of this inside and preliminary history,
and have some qualifications for the task, having taken
some part, though not great, in all that I relate.

Retired from the United States Senate, of which he
had been a member, and from the supreme j udicial
bench of his State, on which he had sat as judge, this
future warrior and President — and alike illustrious in
both characters — was living upon his farm on the banks
of the Cumberland, when the war of 1812 broke out.
He was a major general in the Tennessee militia — the
only place he would continue to hold, and to which he
had been elected by the contingency of one vote, so

31

close was the chance for a miss in this first step. His
friends believed that he had military genius, and pro-
posed him for the brigadier's appointment which was
allotted to the West. That appointment was given to
another, and Jackson remained unnoticed on his farm.
Soon another appointment of general was allotted to
the West. Jackson was proposed again; and was
again left to attend to his farm. Then a batch of gen-
erals, as they were called, was authorized by law — six
at a time, and from all parts of the Union; and then his
friends believed that surely his time had come. Not
so the fact. The six appointments went elsewhere, and
the hero patriot, who was born to lead armies to vic-
tory, was still left to the care of his fields, while incom-
petent men were leading our troops to defeat, to
captivity, to slaughter; for that is the way the war
opened. The door to military service seemed to be
closed and barred against him; and was so, so far as
the government was concerned.

It may be wondered why this repugnance to the
appointment of Jackson, who, though not yet greatly
distinguished, was still a man of mark — had been a
Senator and a Supreme judge, and was still a major
general, and a man of tried and heroic courage. I can
tell the reason. He had a great many home enemies,
for he was a man of decided temper; had a great many
contests, no compromises; always went for a clean
victory or a clean defeat, though placable after the

32

contest was over. That was one reason, but not the
main one. The administration had a prejudice against
him on account of Colonel Burr, with whom he had
been associated in the American Senate, and to whom
he gave a hospitable reception in his house at the time
of his Western expedition, relying upon his assurance
that his designs were against the Spanish dominion in
Mexico, and not against the integrity of this Union.
These were some of the causes, not all, of Jackson's
rejection from Federal military employment.

I was young then, and one of his aids, and believed in
his military talent and patriotism ; was greatly attached
to him, and was grieved and vexed to see him passed
by when so much incompetence was preferred. Besides,
I was to go with him, and his appointment would be
partly my own. I was vexed, as were all his friends;
but I did not despair, as most of them did. I turned
from the government to ourselves, to our own resources,
and looked to the chapter of accidents to turn up a
chance for incidental employment, confident that he
would do the rest for himself if he could only get a
start. I was in this mood in my office, a young lawyer,
with more books than briefs, when the tardy mail of
that time, one "raw and gusty day" in February, 1812,
brought an act of Congress authorizing the President
to accept organized bodies of volunteers to the extent
of fifty thousand, to serve for one year, and to be called
into service when some emergency should require it.

33

Here was a chance. I knew that Jackson could raise

a general's command, and I trusted to events for him to
be called out, and felt that one year was more than
enough for him to prove himself. I drew up a plan,
rode thirty miles to his house that same raw day in
February — rain, hail, sleet, wind — and such roads as we
then had there in winter, deep in rich mud and mixed
with ice. I arrived at the Hermitage — a name then but
little known — at nightfall, and found him solitary, and
almost alone, but not quite; for it was the evening,
mentioned in the "Thirty Years' View," when I found
him with the lamb and the child between his knees. I
laid the plan before him. He was struck with it —
adopted it — acted upon it. We began to raise volun-
teer companies. Whilst this was going on, an order ar-
rived from the War Department to the Governor (Willie
Blount) to detach fifteen hundred militia to the Lower
Mississippi; the object to meet the British, then expected
to make an attempt on New Orleans. The Governor
was a friend to Jackson and to his country. He agreed
to accept his three thousand volunteers instead of the
fifteen hundred draughted militia. The General issued
an address to his division. I galloped to the muster-
grounds and harangued the young men. The success
was ample. Three regiments were completed — Coflee,
William Hall, Benton, the colonels — and in December,
1812, we descended the Cumberland and the Mississippi
in a fleet of flat-bottomed boats, and landed at Natchez.

34

There we got the news that the British would not come
that winter — a great disappointment, and a fine chance
lost.

We remained in camp, six miles from Natchez,
waiting ulterior orders. In March they came — not
orders for further service, or even to return home, but
to disband the volunteers where they were. The com-
mand was positive, in the name of the President, and
by the then Secretary at War, General Armstrong. I
well remember the day — Sunday morning, the 25th
day of March, 1813. The first I knew of it was a
message from the General to come to him at his tent;
for though, as colonel of a regiment, I had ceased to be
aid, yet my place had not been filled, and I was sent
for as much as ever. He showed me the order, and
also his character, in his instant determination not to
obey it, but to lead his volunteers home. He had
sketched a severe answer to the Secretary, and gave
it to me to copy and arrange the matter of it. It
was very severe. I tried hard to get some parts soft-
ened, but impossible. I have never seen that letter
since, but would know it if I should meet it in any
form, anywhere, without names. I concurred with
the General in the determination to take home our
young troops. He then called a "council" of the field-
officers, as he called it ; though there was but little of
the council in it, the only object being to hear his de-
termination and take measures for executing it. The

35

officers were unanimous in their determination to sup-
port him ; but it was one of those cases in which he
would have acted not only without, but against a
"council."

The officers were unanimous and vehement in their
determination, as much so as the General was himself;
for the volunteers were composed of the best young
men of the country — farmers' sons, themselves clever
young men, since filling high offices in the State and
the Federal Government — intrusted to these officers by
their fathers, in full confidence that they would act a
father's part by them; and the recreant thought of
turning them loose on the Lower Mississippi, five hun-
dred miles from home, without the means of getting
home, and a wilderness and Indian tribes to traverse,
did not find a moment's thought in any one's bosom.
To carry them back was the instant and indignant
determination ; but great difficulties were in the way.
The cost of getting back three thousand men under
such circumstances must be great ; and here Jackson's
character showed itself again. We have all heard of
his responsibilities — his readiness to assume political
responsibility when the public service required it. He
was now equally ready to take responsibility of another
kind — moneyed responsibility, and that beyond the
whole extent of his fortune! He had no military
chest, not a dollar of public money; and three thousand
men were not to be conducted five hundred miles

36

through a wilderness country and Indian tribes without
a great outlay of money. Wagons were wanted, and
many of them, for transport of provisions, baggage,
and the sick — so numerous among new troops. He had
no money to hire teams ; he impressed ; and at the end
of the service gave drafts upon the quartermaster
general of the Southern department (General Wilkin-
son's) for the amount. The wagons were ten dollars
a day, coming and going. They were numerous. It
was a service of two months ; the amount to be incurred
was great. He incurred it, and, as will be seen, at
imminent risk of his own ruin. This assumption on
the General's part met the first great difficulty; but
there were lesser difficulties, still serious, to be sur-
mounted. The troops had received no pay; clothes
and shoes were worn out ; the men were in no condition
for a march so long, and so exposed. The officers had
received no pay ; did not expect to need money ; had
made no provision for the unexpected contingency of
large demands upon their own pockets to enable them
to do justice to their men. But there was patriotism
outside of the camp as well as within. The merchants
of Natchez put their stores at our disposition ; take
what we needed ; pay when convenient, at Nashville.
I will name one among these patriotic merchants —
name him because he belongs to a class now struck at,
and because I do not ignore a friend when he is struck.
Washington Jackson was the one I mean — Irish by

37

birth ; American by choice, by law, and feeling, and
conduct. I took some hundred pairs of shoes from him
for iny regiment, and other articles; and I proclaim
it here, that patriotic men of foreign birth may see
that there are plenty of Americans to recognise their
merit — to name them with honor in high places, and
to give them the right hand of friendship when they
are struck at.

We all returned, were discharged, dispersed among
our homes, and the fine chance on which we had so
much counted was all gone. And now came a blow
upon Jackson himself, the fruit of the moneyed respon-
sibility which he had assumed. His transportation
drafts were all protested ; returned upon him for pay-
ment, which was impossible, and with directions to bring
suit. This was the month of May. I was coming on
to Washington on my own account, and cordially took
charge of Jackson's case. Suits were delayed until the
result of his application for relief could be heard. I
arrived in this city ; Congress was in session — the extra
session of the spring and summer of 1813. I applied
to the members of Congress from Tennessee; they
could do nothing. I applied to the Secretary at War ;
he did nothing. Weeks had passed away, and the time
for delay was expiring at Nashville. Ruin seemed to be
hovering over the head of Jackson, and I felt the
necessity of some decisive movement. I was young
then and had some material in me, perhaps some bold-

358679

38

ness, and the occasion brought it out. I resolved to
take a step, characterized in the letter which I wrote to
the General as "an appeal from the justice to the fears
of the Administration." I remember the words, though
I have never seen the letter since. I drew up a memoir
addressed to the Secretary at War, representing to him
that these volunteers were drawn from the bosoms of
almost every substantial family in Tennessee ; that the
whole State stood by Jackson in bringing them home,
and that the State would be lost to the Administration
if he was left to suffer. It was upon this last argument
that I relied, all those founded in justice having failed.
It was of a Saturday morning, 12th of June, that I
carried this memoir to the War Office and delivered it.
Monday morning I came back early to learn the result
of my argument. The Secretary was not yet in. I
spoke to the chief clerk, (then the afterwards Adjutant
General Parker,) and inquired if the Secretary had left
any answer for me before he left the office on Saturday.
He said no ; but that he had put the memoir in his side-
pocket — the breast-pocket — and carried it home with
him, saying he would take it for his Sunday's considera-
tion. That encouraged me — gave a gleam of hope
and a feeling of satisfaction. I thought it a good sub-
ject for his Sunday's meditation. Presently he arrived.
I stepped in before anybody to his office. He told me
quickly and kindly that there was much reason in what
I had said, but that there was no way for him to do it ;

39

that Congress would have to give the relief. I an-
swered him that I thought there was a way for him to
do it ; it was to give an order to General Wilkinson's
quartermaster general in the Southern department to
pay for so much transportation as General Jackson's
command would have been entitled to if it had returned
under regular orders. Upon the instant he took up a
pen, wrote down the very words I had spoken, directed
a clerk to put them into form ; and the work was done.
The order went off immediately, and Jackson was
relieved from imminent impending ruin, and Tennessee
remained firm to the Administration.

Thus this case of responsibility was over, but the
original cause of our concern was still in full force.
Jackson was again on his farm, unemployed, and the
fine chance gone which had flattered us so much. But
the chapter of accidents soon presented another — not
so brilliant as New Orleans had promised, and after-
wards realized, but sufficient for the purpose. The
massacre at Fort Mimms took place. The banks of
the Mobile river smoked with fire and blood. Jackson
called up his volunteers, reinforced by some militia —
marched to the Creek nation — and there commenced
that career of victories which soon extorted the com-
mission which had been ^BO long denied to his merit,
and which ended in filling the "measure" of his own
and "his country's glory." And that, Mr. Chairman,
was the way in which this great man gained the privi-

40

lege of using that sword for his country, which, after
triumphing in many fields which it immortalized, has
come here to repose in the hands of the representatives
of a grateful and admiring country.

The resolution was ordered to he read a third time ; and
being read a third time, it was unanimously passed.

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